Jen Nycz-Conner, '95, on Applying WJPZ Lessons Through Multiple Careers

Jen Nycz-Conner, '95, on Applying WJPZ Lessons Through Multiple Careers

Author: WJPZ January 15, 2024 Duration: 59:37

Jen Nycz-Conner felt like she applied to every college in the Big East (RIP) before falling in love with the communications program at Syracuse.  Once on campus, she found a fellow freshman with a map.  She and Steve Donovan went to the radio station, met B.B. Good, and the rest is history.

Living above the station in Watson as a sophomore, Jen got more involved with the station, and soon became VP of Operations as she and her 1995 classmates ran WJPZ.  Actually, she wasn't technically Class of 1995 - as she explains.

She also talks about many of the friendships she's formed through the alumni association, with WJPZ family members she didn't go to school with.

During school, she secured internships with Jim Henson productions and HBO Sports, the latter of which led to work after graduation.   And this included some entry level "pay your dues" jobs.

Soon, her husband Chris was in DC, and Jen was in New York.  Something had to give, and she found a job working with the ProServ agency in Arlington, Virigina.

Through mergers, acquisitions, and a changing economy, Jen's next stop was Women in Film and Video in DC.  This nonprofit work connected her with the Washington Business Journal, where she'd work for nearly a decade and a half, including time on air on legendary DC Radio station WTOP.

After the job at Washington Business Journal, Jen had a few different career paths in mind.   When her current job at Hilton came up, it checked all of her boxes.

Through her one-of-a-kind career, Jen talks throughout today's epsiode about the lessons learned at WJPZ, and how they've served her well.

The WJPZ at 50 Podcast Series is produced by Jon Gay, Class of 2002, and his podcast production agency, JAG in Detroit Podcasts.

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Want to be a guest on the pod or know someone else who would? Email Jag:  jag@jagindetroit.com.

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For fifty years, the student-run airwaves of Syracuse University's WJPZ at 50 have been more than a radio station; they've been a launchpad. This oral history project captures that legacy not through dry facts, but through the voices that built it. Each episode is a conversation with a different alumnus, from the pioneers of the 1970s to recent graduates, tracing how their hands-on experience in what's called the "world's greatest media classroom" shaped careers in broadcasting and far beyond. You'll hear personal stories of late-night broadcasts, technical mishaps turned into triumphs, and the forging of lifelong bonds that created a unique professional family spanning generations. This podcast digs into the real, often messy, work of learning by doing, revealing how a campus station became an enduring institution. Tune in for a collection of fifty interviews that together form a living archive, celebrating the people, not just the programming, behind five decades of student-led radio.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

WJPZ at 50
Podcast Episodes
Hall of Famer "Neon" Dion Summers, Class of 1995 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:30
For most of our alumni, today's guest needs no introduction. He's a WJPZ Hall of Famer, he's the VP of Urban Programming for SiriusXM, and he's got as charismatic an individual as you'll find in our group. From the Class…
Happy/Father Dave Dwyer, '86, Hall of Fame Inductee [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:02
Today's guest will be inducted into our Hall of Fame at this year's Banquet. His classmates know him has "Happy" Dave Dwyer, but now his listeners on SiriusXM's Busted Halo show know him as Father Dave Dwyer. Before he g…
Imaging Guru Maureen "Mo" Cooper, Class of 1999 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:43
Maureen "Mo" Cooper from the Class of 1999 is the first voice you hear at the beginning of this podcast. An imaging guru, she and Ed LaComb ('85) have done the production for this show. A Central Square native, Mo grew u…
Liz (Doyon) Gupta, Class of 2014, on Rebuilding The Station [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:30
Liz Gupta (nee Doyon), always knew she wanted to be an attorney. And when she learned that an undergraduate degree in journalism would provide her a great foundation, she headed off to Syracuse. And while she knew what s…
Kendall B, Class of 1992, On 30 Years in Radio [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:52
"If you stay ready, you ain't go to get ready." - Sugar FreeThat lyric is a mantra that Southern California native Kendall B has lived by ever since he got to Syracuse University and WJPZ. When a morning show co-host did…
Hall of Famer Bill Bleyle and Carol Mason, Class of 1976 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:55
Hall of Famer Bill Bleyle is liking a name you know as synonymous with the founding of WJPZ in 1972-1973. Today he's joined by another trailblazer, his classmate Carol Mason, to take us back to the very beginning of WJPZ…
Hall of Famer Greg Hernandez, WJPZ Class of 1976 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:56
In the first of two episodes featuring original JPZ'ers from the 1970's, we sit down with Greg Hernandez. In addition to being one of the key figures at the start of WJPZ, he's had a fascinating career since, working wit…
Hall of Famer Larry "Rocket" Ross, Class of 1992 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:44
Today's guest is Hall of Famer Larry "Rocket" Ross, from the Class of 1992. He was at the station when WJPZ-FM was really coming into his own, but we start today by hearing about the one air shift he'll never forget. He…
Hall of Famer Danno Wolkoff, Class of 1986 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:01
How does a goofball from the Crazy Morning Crew end up building a massively successful syndication company? You'll find out in today's podcast, with Hall of Fame guest Danno Wolkoff from the Class of 1986.This Cleveland…